When she emerged from the hospital, the summer heat clung to the night, thick and suffocating, pressing down on her chest. She stopped and bent over, inhaling large gulps of the oppressive air. She couldn’t get enough. Gasping, tears stinging her eyes, she let Wyatt guide her toward a wooden bench.
But instead of taking a seat, he drew her into his arms and held her against him. “You aren’t alone. I’ll be here to help.”
The soothing calmness of his voice slipped into her mind and eased the panic she experienced. Her head cushioned against his chest, she listened to the rhythmic, steady beat of his heart. Its sound wove through her and fused itself to the frantic tempo of her own. Slowly her heartbeat returned to normal. She became aware of his lime-scented aftershave, his gentle hand stroking the length of her back, the sound of cars in the background, the glow of the security light a few feet from them.
Kate stepped out of his protective embrace and put several feet between them. “I’m fine.”
One eyebrow lifted. “You are?”
“I don’t know what came over me.”
“I do. The past few days are catching up with you. You won’t be able to help your girls if you don’t take care of yourself.”
She wanted to bristle at his advice. She wanted to put more emotional distance between them—until her gaze reconnected with his and she glimpsed the caring in his expression. She hadn’t had that in a long time—certainly not as a child. The urge to go back into the circle of his arms overwhelmed her. Clamping down on her teeth, she curled her hands into fists to keep herself from moving toward him.
“I’m taking you home. You need to get some sleep. Tomorrow won’t be an easy day for you. Besides the luncheon with your mother, Detective Finch will pay you a visit first thing in the morning. He’s going to wait until then. He agrees with me there’s more going on here than we know and in the end it may help us break up a big prostitution ring working in this part of the state.”
“Please come with me to the luncheon.” The request tumbled out before she realized what she was saying. She’d never taken a “date” to one of those affairs, which would put her mother on alert. She didn’t need that right now, and yet the prospects of him attending with her felt right.
“Weren’t you the one who warned me off of your mother?”
“Yes, but you’re a big, tough Texas Ranger. I figure you can deal with one petite woman who thinks she owns Dallas. Probably the whole state of Texas.”
He cocked a grin. “Now you’ve piqued my interest.”
“Good. I could get used to having backup when dealing with her.”
“Hey, I didn’t say anything about actually interacting with her. I thought I could stand in the corner and quietly watch her at work. Maybe I could pick up some techniques to use on suspects.”
“If intimidation is your game, then she’s a master.”
He held out his hand. “Come on. Let’s get you back to Beacon of Hope. I need to go home and get my beauty sleep if I’m gonna face your mother tomorrow.”
A vision of Wyatt at one end of the main street in an old western town while her mother was at the other took over her thoughts. They faced each other. Their hands hovered over their holstered guns. Their gazes gauged each nuance of their opponent. The town clock struck twelve o’clock—high noon, and they reached for their weapons.
His hand moving to the small of her back to guide her into the passenger side of his truck wrenched her away from her daydreaming. Heat scored her cheeks. What was she doing fantasizing about Wyatt even if it was only a scene with him facing down her mother? Next, she’d be fantasizing about something much more dangerous—like kissing him.
When he climbed behind the steering wheel and started the engine, he threw her a look that instantly put her back in her fantasy. With his cowboy hat, dark stubble from the beginnings of a beard and his tan features set in a neutral expression, he could be a Texas wrangler from 150 years ago. He linked his gaze to hers and time completely fell away.
“When should I pick you up?” She blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
“You’re picking me up? I was going to ask you that.”
“This isn’t a date, and you’re doing me a favor by going. I could use the moral support. Besides, I’d love to see your ranch.” That last remark took her by surprise. She liked ranches but didn’t generally invite herself to a person’s house.
He chuckled. “Sure. I live right outside Bluebonnet Creek two miles on Front Road. My place is called the Lone Star Ranch. What time should I expect you?”
“Noon—I mean eleven.”
He pulled out and headed toward the street. “Good. It’s a da—what do we call what we’re doing?”
“Helping out a friend.”
His attention slid to her. “I like that.”
The grin that accompanied those words melted any conflict she had for asking him to come to the luncheon. He was just what she needed to make it through the ordeal tomorrow.
“Is this all the information you can find on Wyatt Sheridan?” King asked one of his men.
“Yes, on such short notice. Give me a few more days, and I’ll come up with more.” The baldheaded man plopped the folder down on King’s mahogany desk.
“I want you to tail him. I want to know where he spends his time.”
“Done.”
King flipped the folder open and perused the report and pictures that accompanied it. An idea took hold as he studied the attractive woman who was identified as Caroline Sheridan, the ranger’s mother. “Also I want someone to follow his mother and daughter. I want to know where they go, when, how long they stay. Use Tony for that. He needs to be useful.”
Beads of sweat popped out on the baldheaded man. He took out a handkerchief and mopped it away. “A Texas Ranger’s family?”
King slammed his palm down on his desk, ignoring the sting of the hard contact. “I pay you good money to work for me. I don’t like people who question my techniques. Do I make myself clear?”
The man’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. “Yes.”
“Report to me any changes in the Sheridan family’s whereabouts. Now go.” King waved his hand toward the door as he returned his attention to the folder. His full attention fastened on the petite woman with short medium brown hair with touches of red and large gray eyes, fringed in long eyelashes. Not bad as a diversion.
“Frankly, Kate, I’m surprised you haven’t had more trouble considering the type of teens you work with. You deal with girls who don’t make it other places. Or ones who need someone who understands what they have gone through. You have programs to deal with their schooling, counseling, and medical necessities as well as developing their vocational skills. Your setup here with a qualified staff to meet their needs is the best situation they could be in. Judge Adams sees that. And so are other courts and police departments beginning to see it. Not just here but in other states.” Mrs. Stutsman, the liaison from Judge Adams’ office, rose from the couch in Kate’s office. “I mainly stopped by to reassure you everything is all right. I’ve talked with Ranger Sheridan and Detective Finch. Everything that can be done is being done. Our Memorandum of Understanding still stands.”
Relieved the MOU between Beacon of Hope and the court system was still in place, Kate accompanied Mrs. Stutsman to the door. “I’m glad you stopped by. On your day off, at that.”
“I’ve seen your success with some of these girls I didn’t think had a chance. I also know how you pour your all into this program. I’m reassured by Detective Finch and Ranger Sheridan taking both Rose’s disappearance and Zarah’s murder very seriously.” Mrs. Stutsman offered Kate a reassuring smile. “Call if you need to talk.”
“Thanks.”
Kate watched the middle-aged woman, whom she had been working with since Beacon of Hope opened, stroll down the long hall toward the main entrance. As was Mrs. Stutsman’s custom when she visited, she stopped along the way and talked with any of the girls she enc
ountered. Beth and Audrey spoke to her for a few minutes before she continued her trek to the exit.
Then Kate’s gaze fell on the wall clock. Nine thirty. She quickly shut her office door and hurried toward her apartment on the third floor. She didn’t have much time before she had to pick up Wyatt, and she still needed to pay Cynthia a visit at the hospital.
Ten minutes later Kate left the building, wearing a designer dress even her mother would approve of, and slipped into her Mustang. It wasn’t even ten in the morning and the day had already been long and emotionally exhausting with visits from Detective Finch and Mrs. Stutsman. But she knew after talking with them everything was being done that could be.
When Kate entered Cynthia’s hospital room twenty minutes later, the young girl lay in bed, staring out the window. Sunlight streamed in through the blinds, brightening the soft green walls.
The sound of the door swishing closed brought Cynthia’s head around. She rested her chin on her chest. “I want to leave here.”
Kate walked to the chair next to the bed and sat. “Good. I want you to come back to Beacon of Hope as soon as the doctor will allow it.”
“You do?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I? You belong there. You’re one of us. In fact, I’ve got some messages from the others.” Kate rose a few inches and placed a manila envelope in Cynthia’s lap. “They miss you and need your help.”
“My help?” Cynthia kept her head down, her gaze focused on the packet Kate had brought her.
“We started planning a big open house to be held in three weeks to raise money for the program. Think of it as one great big party.”
“I don’t know anything about parties.”
“But you have a gift for drawing. I’ve seen your work. We can always use that skill.”
Cynthia raised her head and looked at Kate. “I didn’t try to kill myself.”
“What were you trying to do?” Kate held her breath, praying the girl finally talked to her about her cutting. She’d once thought when Cynthia had come to a safe place like Beacon of Hope she wouldn’t do it anymore. She’d been wrong. Now after talking with Cynthia’s doctor and Dr. Jan Barton, she understood more about what was going on with the teen.
“I—I . . .” Cynthia broke eye contact, again staring at her lap.
Kate scooted the chair closer to the bed and cupped one of the girl’s hands. “There’s nothing you can tell me that would surprise me or make me change how I feel about you. When I take a girl into the program, she becomes part of my family. Maybe it would help if you talked about what was going on right before you cut yourself. What were you feeling? Nothing you say will go any further than me.” Dr. Barton had said it was important that Cynthia had someone she could trust enough to share her feelings. Rose wasn’t around right now so she prayed that Cynthia would let her take Rose’s place.
“I was so angry I didn’t stop Rose from leaving.” She stared at Kate. “She’s dead, isn’t she?”
“I don’t know. I’m praying she isn’t. The police are looking for her. We haven’t given up. If she’s out there, I intend to find her.”
“When we talked at night, it was always about me. She never said much about herself. If I had shut up, she might have and I would know something to help find her.”
“This isn’t your fault. None of it. You need to believe that.” If only she could follow her own advice to the teen.
Cynthia didn’t say anything.
“The doctor has agreed to discharge you tomorrow. You will continue to see Dr. Barton once a week. She’ll be working with you and me to teach you how to help yourself. She also has a group of teens who cut themselves she wants you to be part of. There are ways to deal with anger that don’t involve hurting yourself. You can run, hit a pillow, use a punching bag, dance, scream.”
“So if I go running from this place, hitting a pillow and screaming, no one will think I’m strange.”
Kate broke out laughing. “I might join you with the kind of day I’m having.”
“Concerning Rose?”
“No, just a boring luncheon I need to attend.” Kate rose. “I’ll be back tomorrow to spring you from this place.”
As she closed the door on Cynthia’s room, Kate glimpsed the girl tearing into the manila envelope and pulling out the stack of messages from the others. She began reading, and a smile lit her face.
“How many acres do you have?” Kate asked as she finished the brief tour of Wyatt’s barn.
“A hundred. Over the years, part of it has been sold off, but I’m determined to hang on to this last hundred. When I retire, I want to raise horses for the rodeo.”
“Isn’t the idea of retiring to rest and relax? Maybe play a little golf, do a crossword puzzle or Sudoku?”
“If retiring means going from doing one thing to not doing much of anything, then I’ll go crazy if all I do is play golf and work puzzles.”
“Me, too.”
The front screen door banged closed, and a pretty teenage girl bounded down the steps and walked toward Wyatt. “Your daughter?”
He grinned. “Yep, and I see she’s dressed for the mall.”
“Dad, Nana and me are going to the mall. I need to start shopping for school. It’ll be here before you know it.”
“Who are you meeting at the mall?”
His daughter shrugged. “A couple of friends. Nana is okay with it.”
“Is she staying?”
“Yeah. She’s not dropping me off and coming back later. I promise she’ll be there.”
“I want you to check in with her every thirty minutes.”
“She’s gonna be there.” Exasperation edged the teen’s tone.
“Yeah, camped out at the coffee shop while you and your friends are gallivanting all over the two-story mall, looking for boys.”
“Daaad! I have a boyfriend, and he isn’t gonna be there.”
“That’s supposed to reassure me?”
“Stop being a cop. Nothing’s gonna happen to me.”
“Check in every thirty minutes or you can’t go.”
“I’m fourteen now. I’m not a baby.” She blew a frustrated breath out, whirled around, and marched toward the house, muttering something under her breath.
“Maddie,” he called out in a tightly controlled voice.
His daughter stopped and turned back.
“This is Kate Winslow. Kate, this is my daughter, Maddie.”
“Nice to meet you, Maddie.”
“Same here.” Wyatt’s daughter swung back around and continued her march toward the front door.
“Sorry about that. I should have introduced you before we got into our usual argument about spending time at the mall.”
“It’s not easy raising kids today. Peer pressure is strong. They all want to do what everyone else is doing. They’re desperate to fit in.”
“Tell me about it. Last summer I couldn’t get her near a store or mall. All she thought about was riding. Maddie is a good kid, but more and more I’m seeing her friends influence her choices. She’s usually wrapped up in training for the rodeo events she likes to compete in, but this new trend of spending time at the mall isn’t one I like. I guess it’s the heat that forces kids indoors.”
“More like shopping and hanging with your friends. Ready to leave? I don’t mind being fashionably late, but my mother minds if I am.”
“Let’s go. When you first arrived, you met my mom, so it’s only fair I meet yours.” He grinned as he slid into the passenger seat of Kate’s red Mustang. “My mother is sweet. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t drive me crazy. She can’t stick with anything for long. I think she’s gone through every hobby that ever existed and has started to do some over.”
“Stamp collecting?” Kate pulled away from Wyatt’s house.
“Yep.”
“Scrapbooking?”
“Oh, yeah. You should have seen the house when she was doing that. Her supplies were scattered all over the place.”
At the end of his drive, Kate stopped and waited for a dark blue sedan to pass before turning onto the highway that led into Bluebonnet Creek. Her palms dampened, and her stomach contracted the closer she got to her parents’ estate. This would be the longest few hours.
King climbed into Tony’s new dark blue Ford at the mall. “I want you to stay out here. Watch the car and let me know if they leave.”
“Sure, boss. But if they’re anything like my girlfriend, they’ll be inside for hours.”
“Which door did they go in?”
“That one.” Tony pointed toward the main entrance on the west side of the mall.
“Which car is Caroline Sheridan’s?”
“The one next to you.”
King glanced out the side window at the yellow Volkswagen. “Idiot. You don’t park next to the car you’re watching.”
“It was the only parking space around.”
“Find another one.” King shoved the door open and exited the Ford.
He paused at the Volkswagen, scanned the area, then bent down and released the air in the front left tire. If they left before he could connect with the ranger’s mother, that would delay them. Now to hunt down Caroline Sheridan.
8
The temperature outside was nearing one hundred, but inside the solarium at the Winslow estate it hovered around sixty-five degrees. That didn’t stop Wyatt from wanting to shed his suit coat, roll up his shirtsleeves, and remove his tie. It constricted the flow of air into his lungs. Either that or the fact that Kate’s description of her mother was every bit right on. She was a force to be reckoned with. Her mother had her hands in every important thing that went on in Dallas.
Observing an older version of Kate from across the large glassed-in room, Wyatt sipped his ice water and relished the coolness as it slid down his throat. Laura Winslow moved from each group of guests spread out among the beautifully set tables—just how his mom had shown him when she was going through her decorating phase. Mrs. Winslow had yet to make her way to her daughter. In fact, she seemed to be purposefully avoiding Kate.
Saving Hope: Men of the Texas Rangers Book 1 Page 11